Chapter 179
The iron balls with sharp protrusions flew towards Zeke, spinning fiercely.
Crash!
Just as Zeke raised his sword again to activate the field of water, the ground beneath his feet shook.
Rumble!
The ground split open, and Zeke lost his balance, stumbling.
Sion's iron balls flew towards Zeke at high speed.
Crash!
The iron balls collided and exploded around Zeke.
Boom!
Sharp fragments of the shattered iron balls scattered in all directions, embedding themselves in the walls of the surrounding buildings. Holes were punched through the solid stone walls.
Sion panted, looking at the rising dust cloud.
"Huff. Insolent bastard. How dare you challenge Sir Sion?"
Perhaps because he had exerted too much power at once, Sion looked exhausted.
Sion caught his breath and slowly approached the wagon.
He raised his palm and lifted the wagon into the air.
A sinister smile appeared on his face.
"I can't let a traitor die easily."
He shook the wagon from side to side while it was suspended in the air.
Thud! Thud!
The wagon shook violently, and there was a loud commotion inside.
Sion clutched his stomach and laughed as if he found it amusing.
"Puhahaha! Dario, you bastard! I always hated how you acted all high and mighty despite being a pervert. Serves you right!"
Having laughed enough, he stopped talking and slowly clenched his fist.
At the same time, the specially crafted transport wagon began to crumple.
Sion frowned at the sturdiness of the wagon.
"How dare a mere wagon!"
As he exerted more force, the wagon crumpled at an even faster rate.
Just as Sion was concentrating on the wagon...
Something flew towards him.
Whoosh!
An arrow flew towards Sion.
Thud!
Sion, who was focused on the wagon, couldn't dodge the arrow in time and was hit in the shoulder.
"Ugh!"
As Sion's concentration wavered from the arrow hit, the wagon, which was floating in the air, stopped crumpling and fell to the ground.
Sion pulled out the arrow embedded in his shoulder and shouted with bloodshot eyes,
"Damn it! How dare you injure me!"
At the same time, several more arrows flew towards Sion from inside the building.
Sion reached out towards the incoming arrows.
Crash!
With his gesture, the arrows stopped mid-air.
Just then, chains erupted from beneath Sion's feet.
Clank!
The chains wrapped around Sion's ankles.
"Gah!"
Sion tried to break free from the chains and retreat, but it was no use.
The ground shook, and Zeke emerged.
Zeke used the lightning skill on Sion again.
Crackle!
Powerful lightning bolts surged through the chains and struck Sion's body.
"Kyaaaak!"
Sion, directly hit by the lightning, foamed at the mouth and collapsed.
Zeke, firmly standing on the ground, pulled the chains to check Sion's condition.
'He's not dead yet.'
Zeke had realized that it would be difficult to defeat Sion in a head-on battle. So he hid underground through the cracked earth to avoid the iron ball explosion, then summoned Dragon Tooth Soldiers to distract Sion and create an opening.
Zeke injected Hydra's poison into Sion, whom he had captured with Soul Binding magic, to paralyze him.
He intended to interrogate him slowly after capturing him alive.
Having completely subdued Sion, Zeke slowly walked towards the wagon.
He grabbed the wagon crumpled by Sion's power and tore open the door using gravity.
Inside the wagon, a safety cage was installed to protect Dario.
As Zeke opened the cage to take Dario out, he noticed something strange.
'The cage is open?'
Crack!
Suddenly, the ground split open again, and the entire wagon sank underground.
Zeke quickly stepped on the wagon's wall and jumped out.
Whoosh!
Zeke, lifting his body with the field of wind, climbed onto the cracked ground and rose to the surface.
The specially crafted wagon had fallen underground and was completely crushed.
As Zeke emerged from the ground, he saw someone standing behind Sion, who was bound by chains.
A figure wearing a skull mask, dressed in black clothes with unusually long arms.
This was probably the one who had been controlling the earth.
Crack!
The Skull Mask was trying to break the chains binding Sion.
However, the chains bound with Soul Binding magic wouldn't come undone until Zeke released them.
When the chains didn't break, the Skull Mask raised his long arms and tried to strike Sion's head.
Zeke quickly took out a dagger and threw it towards the Skull Mask.
The dagger, imbued with the will of explosion, hit the Skull Mask.
Crash!
The dagger exploded, stopping the Skull Mask's movement.
Zeke seized the opportunity and pulled the chains, dragging Sion towards him.
Just then, the Skull Mask's eyes glowed red from within the explosion.
Then, the Skull Mask's body transformed like sand and seeped into the ground, disappearing.
Zeke swung his sword at the spot where the Skull Mask had disappeared, but only a dent was left on the ground; there was no trace of him.
Zeke eventually gave up on finding the Skull Mask and checked on Sion, who was unconscious and bound by chains.
Fortunately, he was still alive.
But just as he was relieved, something rolled towards Zeke.
Zeke checked the object that stopped at his feet.
It was Dario's severed head.
***
Many people were gathered in the courtroom of the Draker Court, located in the Four Seasons Castle Artemfel.
The Silver Knight, Cali Draker, the former Black Knight, Duke Draker, the Scarred Knight, the leader of the Black Wolf Fang, Gareth Draker – all the influential figures of the current Draker clan were present.
They had gathered to hear the testimony of a Nostra clan executive and deliver a judgment on their crimes.
And the person who requested this trial was none other than Cali Draker.
She had Duke Draker and Gareth Draker as guarantors, adding weight to the trial's verdict.
But a problem arose.
The Nostra clan executive who was supposed to testify did not appear even after the scheduled time.
As time passed and the people attending the trial began to murmur, the judge spoke up.
"This is a sacred court. Please maintain silence."
The judge turned to Cali Draker.
Cali Draker's expression hardened, and she shook her head.
William Siemens, who attended the trial as an observer, smirked as he watched Cali Draker and the judge.
He had just received news from the Nostra clan that Dario had been dealt with.
'This is good. I can unexpectedly deal a blow to Cali.'
If Dario had appeared as a witness and testified against the Nostra clan's crimes, Cali, who requested the trial, would have gained merit. However, if it failed, it could backfire.
Currently, Cali and Abel were engaged in an invisible competition for the right to succeed as the next head of the clan.
Even a small mistake could turn into a huge disaster.
Especially since Cali's maternal clan and supporting clan, the Prana clan, didn't have as much influence as the Siemens clan, who supported Abel.
In other words, even a small mistake could cause Cali to lose all the achievements she had accumulated.
As William Siemens confirmed Cali's increasingly stiff expression, he slowly rose from his seat.
It was clear that both Cali and Zeke would suffer a blow and fail their mission due to this incident.
Just then, the judge, unable to wait any longer, spoke up.
"As the witness has not appeared for the trial, I declare a mistrial."
He was about to end the trial with his gavel.
Bang!
The door opened, and someone entered the courtroom.
William Siemens, who was about to leave the courtroom, was startled.
'What's that...?'
Surprisingly, Zeke Draker, wearing a Draker uniform, entered the courtroom with someone whose face was covered.
Zeke stood before the judge and bowed respectfully.
"Your Honor, I apologize for the delay. I have brought the witness."
He led the man he had brought to the witness stand.
Then he removed the cloth bag covering his face.
The man sitting in the witness stand was haggard, but it was undoubtedly Dario Totlino.
William Siemens was shocked to see Dario's face.
"That's impossible!"
Everyone in the courtroom looked at him at William's shout.
Zeke also turned his head, looked at William, and said,
"Sir William. Is there a problem?"
William quickly regained his composure and sat down with a calm expression.
Then he said in a composed voice,
"It's nothing."
Zeke turned back to the judge and said,
"I request Dario Totlino, an Imperial citizen, as a witness for the Nostra clan's organized crime trial."
The judge looked at Cali Draker, and she nodded.
The judge accepted Zeke's request.
"Dario Totlino. Please testify."
Dario stood in the witness stand and slowly spoke.
"My name is known as Dario Totlino, but that is not true. My real name is Dario Nostra. I am one of the bosses of the Nostra clan."
As soon as Dario's testimony began, people started murmuring.
Dario Totlino, the Steel King of the Empire, was currently known to have been kidnapped from Heli by an unidentified group.
But now, he suddenly appeared, revealed himself as a member of the Mafia Nostra clan, and offered to testify against the organization's crimes.
"Dario Totlino is a Nostra clan member?"
"Huh, I can't believe it."
Among the murmuring observers, William raised his hand and stood up.
He said to Dario,
"Can you prove that you are truly Dario Totlino? Currently, Dario Totlino has been kidnapped by a mysterious group. It's hard to understand how you suddenly appeared in the Draker Court to testify."
The other observers also nodded at William's words.
Cali Draker stood up, looked at the judge, and said,
"Your Honor. Please allow the witness, Dario Totlino, to prove his identity."
The judge nodded.
Cali approached Dario with something in her hand.
She asked Dario,
"Dario Totlino. Are you truly Dario Totlino?"
"I am."
"Can you swear that there is no lie in your words?"
"I swear."
Cali nodded and showed the crystal she was holding to the jury.
"Members of the jury, what I'm holding is an iris information storage device. As you know, all outsiders entering the Four Seasons Castle must verify their identity with this iris recognition device. When I checked the records, I found that Dario Totlino had a record of entering the Four Seasons Castle after being invited before. This is Dario Totlino's record."
William stood up at Cali's words and asked,
"How can we be sure that the witness is Dario Totlino just based on the iris recognition device?"
Cali Draker looked at William with a surprised expression and said,
"That's interesting. As far as I know, it's the Siemens clan who installed and manages this iris recognition device in the Four Seasons Castle. Are you saying you don't trust the device managed by Siemens, Sir William?"
William's face fell at Cali's words.
If he continued to argue, it could damage his clan's credibility.
He managed his expression with effort and said,
"I just meant that it would be better to proceed with certainty."
As William sat down, Cali addressed the people in the courtroom again.
"We will compare this iris information with the witness's iris through our family mages."
The mages who were waiting entered the courtroom with the iris recognition device.
They held the device up to Dario Totlino's eyes.
"Recognition complete."
The mages displayed a holographic screen comparing the recognized iris information with the past iris information.
Everyone in the courtroom focused on the holographic screen.
The comparison result appeared.
<Match>
It was clear evidence that the witness was indeed Dario Totlino.
William Siemens' eyes widened at the result.
'How is this possible?'
There was no way the Nostra clan would lie to him.
He glared at Zeke, who was sitting quietly.
Zeke must have done something during the transportation.
With Dario Totlino's identity confirmed, Cali Draker addressed him.
"Dario Totlino, no, Dario Nostra. Before you confess your crimes, I have one question."
She asked him in a clear voice,
"Which Draker bloodline clan is colluding with the Nostra clan?"